Member Of Parliament for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan

November 05, 2015

Meet The New Member of Parliament

As the newly-elected member of Parliament for Sherwood Park–Fort Saskatchewan, I want to express my sincerest thanks to you for trusting me to represent your interests in the House of Commons. As I do this work, I intend to keep you informed about what I am doing on your behalf in Ottawa. I would like to thank the Sherwood Park News and Fort Saskatchewan Record for giving me this regular column so I can do just that. I had a chance to write a column in the Sherwood Park News during my high school and university years, and it’s great to be writing again. This time, I won’t need to apply for a press pass.

Since this is my first post-election column, I want to thank everyone who got involved with this election in various capacities, across all party lines. I also salute the hard work of my opponents and the tremendous work of local Elections Canada staff.

In particular, at the local level, this election saw significant engagement by local schools. I want to thank the many different schools that invited the candidates to come speak. It was a real honour for me to be able to speak to so many students. I look forward to connecting with these schools, and many others, in my new role.

On Oct. 19, Canadians elected a Liberal government. However, here in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, you gave me a very strong mandate to stand up for the values and interests of this community. I committed throughout the campaign and I echo that pledge here — I will fight to protect our local energy sector and economy, and to keep taxes low for families and seniors.

My job is not to disagree with everything the government does. Indeed, it will be important to work across party lines in areas where collaboration is possible. No party has a monopoly on good ideas, and we will not tear down everything the government does. As a principled opposition, we will focus our energy on the key issues that are a priority for you, our constituents.

One issue that is critical for your economic well-being here in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan is the strength of our energy sector. Jobs, opportunity and our public services all depend on the strength of this sector.

I continue to hear from people in this community who have concerns about what the election result means for our local economy. And you can be sure that I will be bringing those concerns forward. Low taxes, as well secure access to international markets, are critical for our energy sector, and for all sectors of our economy.